Hallmark Symposium is a lecture series that exposes students to accomplished designers, artists, educators, and architects from around the world. Every semester, a handful of professionals are invited to KU to present to the students. I was honored to be invited back to my alma mater to speak at this special event and share my story.

Ten entrepreneurs + ten days co-living and co-working on an active volcanic island. The result? A completely transformative experience in terms of business growth/clarity, embracing new adventures, and strengthened relationships with both old and new friends.

When the organizers of KC Design Week reached out to see if I was interested in hosting a watercolor workshop during the event-packed week, my response was, “I don’t think designers and architects are really interested in watercolor.” When the event sold out in 37 minutes, I realized I was entirely wrong.

KC Design Week invited me to speak about my unique work/travel lifestyle during KC’s most creative week of the year. The sold-out crowd was packed with designers, architects, freelancers, and advertising and design professionals.

Strong women lift each other up. I had the opportunity to present on the main stage during the Bond Women’s Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I shared my story about how I turned my creative passion into a viable business. The festival was a celebration of empowerment, entrepreneurship, and expression.

Who knew back-to-school shopping could be so educational–and–inspirational? GGP had the great idea to kick off this school year by inviting me to host events centered around free hand-lettering workshops created to inspire and educate shoppers.

Hello, Palm Springs! Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the Create & Cultivate Desert Pop-Up. The event drew a massive crowd of women entrepreneurs, creatives, and aspiring self-starters who gathered to share ideas, network, and grow. It was empowering to hear so many other women's stories of success and forging their own career path.

Last week, I had the opportunity to give a presentation in NYC, hosted by my friends at Skillshare. I spoke about how I transformed my side-hustle (painting) into a thriving business that allows me to travel the world full-time.

Hello, NYC friends! I'll be in town in a few weeks and giving a talk at the Skillshare office on Thursday, March 8! I’ll be speaking about how I scaled my side hustle into a business & how I use passive income to support my travel lifestyle year round.

Over the holidays, KC Live contacted me to see if I was interested in appearing on their holiday special for a guest interview. My response was an enthusiastic "YES". Kansas City Live is an hour-long show that spotlights the people, places, trends and local attractions that make KC such a great place to live.

2017 has been one helluva year. It’s my first year of full-time traveling, which has taken me to some uniquely gorgeous places and introduced me to an incredible group of nomadic/entrepreneurial friends. I've packed in a ton and created some of the best pieces in my artwork portfolio. Check it out!

My travel bucket list is filled with difficult-to-obtain goals, usually involving remote locations, perfect timing, and a stroke of luck. I had the opportunity to check off a big one when I visited Indonesia: ✔️ See a Komodo dragon in the wild. These are the fastest, largest and strongest lizards on earth and they're only found on a few tiny islands in southern Indonesia. Their remote isolation only increased my desire to catch a glimpse of one in its natural habitat.

West Elm does a fantastic job engaging the local maker community in KC. They invited me to set up a Pop Up Shop in their store on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which was perfect timing: Small Business Saturday!

It's no secret that I'm mildly obsessed with otters– they're like little water kittens. So when this video went viral, my jaw dropped. The clip features Stephanie Arne (of Omaha's Wild Kingdom), swimming in a pool with baby otters in her arms. Between her laughter, she managed to gasp, "I'm so happy! This is the most amazing thing! You guys have to come here!" I took her up on her advice and ten minutes later, had reservations for my first ever Otter Swim.

I had the absolute pleasure of designing the branding Kansas City's newest and trendiest retail space, Hamilton. Thursday night was their grand opening party and it did not disappoint! It's always so exciting to see the fruition of hard work paying off, and I was all smiles for Hamilton's big debut.

When the Zulily gals reached out to me about debuting my art prints on their site, I was thrilled. I've been looking for methods of reaching a wider audience, and with hundreds of thousands of unique web visitors every day, this was the perfect opportunity for me.

When Madewell announced they were opening up a new store at the Kansas City Plaza, I was thrilled! (I'm a huge fan of their modern aesthetic & quality denim.) Shortly before their launch, Madewell approached me to partner with them and host a pop-up shop to celebrate their new location. Madewell has become a champion of supporting local artists, and a couple months later, I was setting up shop in their new store for a one-day event.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to open up a booth alongside about a hundred KC-local artists, artisans and vendors during the CRAFT pop-up event, hosted by Chick Events. It. Was. Epic.

In addition to loads of local talent, CRAFT drew in plenty of KC food & drink vendors as well. By the end of day one, I was stuffed with some of KC's best offerings: Oasis Food's hummus, a cheese plate from Green Dirt Farm, some tasty treats from Dolce Bakery, and plenty of Boulevard beer. Yum.

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, October 24th, I'll have a pop-up shop at Madewell at their new Plaza location in Kansas City. I've stocked up on a ton of prints and stationery cards, which I'll have for sale from 1–3 p.m. that afternoon. Can't wait to see you guys there!